Forced Imprisonment

The down side to having three children is that it seems when one gets better another one becomes ill. Poor Francesca spent all Sunday night being sick, her bed got changed many times but the little trooper did manage to make it to the toilet on two occasions! Yesterday she spent either asleep or crying, she is very hot and very sorry for herself (and I am quite sorry for her too). She decided that she would try and have a bath yesterday (as has sick in hair) if I would 'wash her like a baby' so off I went to get a deep bubble bath ready. By the time I came back to get her she was asleep, so Nathaniel and Elizabeth went in before tea. Francesca slept fitfully from four, only waking for more paracetamol.

But being trapped in the house tending Francesca, nursing my cold and entertaining Nathaniel has been quite a good thing. I did loads of sewing for the May Fayre at school, three hats and matching handbags. Francesca did let me put a hat on her as they look terrible when photographed unworn;



We had a very long cuddle afterwards as I am such a mean Mummy and felt awful for making her sit up!

Here are the bags that match the hats. All vintage floral cottons from my Mum's stash so probably not much younger then me;



I had a bit of the Cath Kidsonesque blue with pink flowers left so ironed on some interfacing and cut into flowers. I sewed some to denim squares and then sewed them onto white card blanks. They look really good but the photo was very crap, the flash kept insisting on going off and the white card was blinding. Will take some more pics when the sun comes out again.

Today I dug out this yummy piece of linen (John Lewis, no less) from my stash and using this tute as inspiration (didn't copy pattern just cut randomly as usual) made this lovely little shoulder bag;



I spotted a link for this tute in a post by the lovely Julie, thanks!! It's a really simple idea and looks fabulous, have already chopped one out in the fabric I used for my Mum's birthday bag. And am going to try and make a more child styled one for the girls for the summer.

Need to be off now giving lots of cuddles and I will try again to keep Francesca awake long enough for me to wash the sick from her hair!

Daisie xxx

An Early Start

The children were up late with us last night palying with balloons and generally being silly so slept a little later this morning (bliss). So I was slightly alarmed to hear the phone ringing at 7am, oh no, thought I, an emergency?! Upon groggily dragging myself down the stairs and doing a quick 1471 (for non UK readers, this number tells you the last number to have phoned you). My friend Claire, what could have happened?! I phoned back only to discover that it was Nathaniel's friend Li-Bau 'chewing' the phone at his house. Phew!

And because I'm up and Simon is slumbering still I thought I'd show you what else I made yesterday;

Some little knitted flower clips. I really like the ones with the spotty and checked button centres.

I have packed them slightly differently for the school fair as I'm not sure how much space I will have. This way they take up less room but I think they still look lovely on my daisy patterned card;

Lazy day today and the start of F1, blimey, can't say as I've missed it but Simon is very excited and feels it is a personal birthday gift from the BBC. I am slightly looking forward to this year's races as I will be able to shut my eyes and listen to Richard Hammond. Mmmmmmmmmmm! If I wasn't married.....

Daisie xxx

Happy Birthday Simon!!!

And now I can reveal how my son managed to get a little green tash yesterday, see all the beautiful green colouring? That would be Nathaniel;


Elizabeth decided that Simon was brill and he rocked;


Francesca was responsible for the pink love hearts (well, who else?);

This shot is very dark and I do apologise (I'm sure there is a way I could correct it if I was technically minded) but the girls were so excited when we can home from school that they were washed, changed and ready to 'paaarttaaay' by ten to four!!

Nathaniel and I made a cake this afternoon and it was Francesca's job to light the candles and then call for hush when it was time to sing;

You can't tell from the pic but we artfully arranged the candles in an 'S' shape. I think after your tenth birthday having the same number of candles as years from birth is a little silly and when you get to be as old as Simon it is a positive fire hazard!! And I can say that; I'm middle aged!

Nathaniel didn't like all the singing but was very impressed that Simon managed to blow out all the candles in one go;

After we had all eaten far too much cake we did fun scientific experiments with balloons;

Happy birthday Simon!!

Daisie xxx

Little Green Hitler Tash

Not sure now I've written the post title whether it's entirely appropriate? Oh, what the heck, am sticking with it anyhoo!

Today I have been feeling mightily under the weather after puking for many hours during the night, so much so that my throat began to bleed! Very alarming! Feeling slightly better just a bit washed out and knackered. I'm hoping that it's the same bug that has been doing the rounds at school the last week or so. If it is I'll feel 100% myself again by tomorrow which will be good!

Even though I am ill and knackered I dragged myself (kicking and screaming?) to meet Swirly and Sarah at SAMS. I got some beautiful fabrics, a water colour painting set for my father-in-law and some small pieces of coloured leather and suede.

I ran the suede through the die cutter to embellish some note books I bought a while ago;



You can see the texture better in this shot;



I have been meaning to do something with these for a while, am thinking of doing a few more and taking them to the school fair. Think little girls will love them (I know mine do)!

And with regard the title, the children and I have been creating delights for Simon's birthday tomorrow. Daren't show you any pics yet incase the big man comes and has a look when he gets home from work tonight. Will show you lots tomorrow! Nathaniel did do lots of doodling where we asked him to but he also managed to doodle on his face and ended up looking like this;



The little green 'tash looks much better in the flesh! The girls thought he looked very funny and I thought it was highly fitting for the mood he has been in all afternoon!

Daisie xxx

The Last Few Days

In order for Nathaniel to do this;


I had to do this;


So glad it's all done and away and I won't have to do any for a while (although the basket is already half full again)!

I have been painting crockery for a paying customer (oooh);


And some for Francesca's friend;

On Mother's Day I was greeted (after a lovely lie in) with this beautiful card from Francesca, she has cut out all the flowers by herself which is not easy with crappy school scissors when you're left-handed;

"The pollen (sparkly bits) has nearly all gone from the yellow one as bees like yellow best and the blue one doesn't have much left but the pink flower has lots of pollen because they are saving that one until last." Apparently.

Elizabeth made me this one:

The poem on the front reads;

Mummy is the best.

Usually not a pest.

Mummy is much better than the rest.

My Mummy is so brill, she can stitch a frill.

Young as always, she will never get old.

Ah, sweet. But how quickly she changes her tune, last week I was 'middle-aged' and now I am young?

I has this beautiful pop-up flower pot inside;

I got a french one too;

And inbetween walking the beach and other delights I have been making these small purses for the school spring fair;

Yesterday saw a trip to IKEA with a chum and some amazing fabric bought but I will wait until it is transformed into something wonderful before I show you.....

Oh, and I almost forgot, I did a cute daisy type thingie as a guest writer over on cuteable!

Daisie xxx

My Very Tall Family

The sun has shone today, not as warmly as earlier in the week but we set off to the seaside anyway!

We were very windswept but had a lovely walk on the beach, collected shells, wrote in the sand and watched our shadows grow longer as tea time approached;


L-R: Simon, Nathaniel, me, Francesca and Elizabeth.

Wishing all Mummies everywhere a wonderful day tomorrow!

Daisie xxx

A Bad Middle Aged Blogger

I think I should be awarded 'Bad Blogger Of The Year' at the moment. I seem to have put my mojo down and can't quite remember where it is, or I have no exciting things to be telling and showing. I'd rather write nothing at all than random ramblings. I realise that most of my posts are random ramblings but they are meaningful in my mind, if you know what I mean?!

While I have been away I have aged, not melodrama, a birthday. Got some lovely crafty things from my children and some friends, a fabulous new handbag from my sister and lots of lovelies but best of all has to be the electric pencil sharpener Simon bought for me. When I work out how to post vids I'll show you! Bet you can't wait for that post!????

And I am officially old. Whilst Elizabeth was pulling many grey hairs from my head yesterday morning (and not just grey but thick white long springy things) I jokingly commented; "Does this make me ancient then?" and she replied; "You're not ancient Mummy, just middle aged" God only knows what that makes Simon!? The comfort a seven year old can bring you is immeasurable, honestly!

Art class is going to be a bit of a washout this afternoon, the artist is poorly so the centre have found some crafty bits and want me to do a two hour something. Told then no way, pedro! I no get paid, preaching about boobies is one thing but getting people to do things is not my thing at all. So I have said I'll still go but will take my knitting and we'll just see what everyone else wants to do. I suspect some people will just go home and some people will just chill with a cuppa while the children play nicely in the creche. Either way I'm knitting!

I have been busy making things for an up and coming spring fair and also for an easter swap I am involved in, so maybe I'll be back soon with some pictures.

Bear with me, I know I put that mojo somewhere.........

While looking I'll be doing alot of this;

TTFN, Daisie xxxxx

My Son The Lactivist!!

Apologies but here I go again, in a funny way this time though.

While I have been learning new arty skills Nathaniel has been having fun in the creche and last time he painted this picture;



I put it to dry and made a fuss of him and told him it was a lovely painting etc but didn't really look at it (like all bad mother's do) and it wasn't until Simon saw it, he said we have a child genius! "He's painted his favourite thing" "What?!" says I. "Why, it's a boobie!"

And by jove I believe it is!

And when I asked the boy himself if it was a boobie this was his reaction;


I took that as a yes!

Daisie xxx

My Mermaid

Being a bad blogger again this week, sorry!

The usual has been happening, playgroups, school runs, boobie club, ironing etc....

I did get some lovely buttons in the post from Jenny (and some other lovelies) *but I forgot to take a pic and can't be bothered to go and do it now, so next time there will be lovely photos of lovely Jenny lovelies! Thank you Jen!!!!

My art class this week was shadow boxes and we did some work with clay. I followed a water type thing as there is a HUGE silk painting in the stairwell that Jackie (meant to ask her if she's online anywhere so I can give you a link but forgot, couldn't find her when googling) painted with some children at school, it's about 6m by 3m and is a beautiful blue and is covered in fishes.

I painted the inside of the box frame with blues and greens and added some glitter too. Once they were set to dry Jackie gave us all a lump of clay and we had amazing fun, like playdough only better. Not sure I'm the greatest at it but here is my mermaid;

Her face is a little off and I think she looks slightly constipated but I am very pleased with her tail and hair!

This morning Nathaniel and I have made half a dozen felt hanging hearts (no photo, sorry, see *) for an up and coming craft fair, three fabric flowers are waiting to have their petals stitched in and buttons found for their centres, and I have assembled some knitted bead bag dangles with beads I knitted on tuesday morning at playgroup, they all think I'm mad and I think they're probably quite right!!!

I am making several bags and hats for the fair and found this piece of fabric, really love it but there isn't enough for a bag so I got out my trusty scissors and chopped some rectangles and some squares and sewed them all together in about 15 minutes and made this Daisie version of a shabby chic door stop;

Think it looks rather good? I have just bunged some polyfil into it so I could photograph it and without any rice or dried peas in the bottom it'll never hold a door open and it needs a damn good iron!! It has given me some inspiration for a swap I am involved in......watch this space........

Parents' evening tonight for Francesca so the children are off to have tea with a friend, Nathaniel and I have made a lemon cake to take for pud.

Daisie xxx

Floral Flowers

Just popping in to show you my Sunday makes. We had a very lazy day indeed and didn't get dressed until lunchtime!

I spent the time in my pyjamas to create these lovely flowers for my dear friend's birthday;



An 'on-the-wrist' pin cushion (that actually fits a grown up) with some beautiful love heart headed pins and I made a larger version of the flower and stuffed it with lavender flowers;



There is a button on the other side of this flower too so it doesn't matter where she hangs it as there are two 'fronts', if you know what I mean!?

Anyway back to the madness that is Monday here, beds to change, bathroom to clean, floors to mop and tea to prepare.....

Daisie xxx

Sun And Mugs

We awoke this morning to beautiful sunshine and not too cold temperatures so when Simon set off for his training course this morning the children and I packed the pram with bananas and bottles of water and set off to the park.

Nathaniel had a slide;


Francesca had a see-saw;



And Elizabeth had a swing;

Then they all swapped around and around until everyone had done everything (several times) and we were getting bored so we went in search of flowers;

I don't think these have been open long as there are still yellow ones in the park. Squirrels eat the yellow ones which is why you only usually see them in the middle of round-a-bouts. At least that is what I have been led to believe all my life, am sure someone will disprove this in the comments?

Then we went and bought lunch from the bakers and walked up to meet Simon and we all came home together.

Really glad we went out this morning as not long after we returned home it began to rain and it has been decidedly horrid since. But Enchanted on DVD and lots of snuggles has kept the blues at bay. And I managed to knit the other bootee!

And in that beautiful box yesterday were some fabulous goodies from the lovely Emma;

Some sweeties that seem to have disappeared, must go and sniff the children's breath! Some beautifully wrapped little parcels, some biccies (always a good idea) and some lovely teas to try.

I am pleased to see that I wasn't the only person to paint the mug!

Inside the mini-parcels there were some fabby glitzy organza pieces and some funky net, Francesca has her eye on the pink already! Some buttons (spotty and checked ones, squeek), some sequins and she also included a lovely little felt brooch that is purple, yum;

You really should pop over the Emma's blog using the link above as her pictures are much better. Although she will have taken her time over them, I was too busy keeping the small hands at bay and tearing open the packing!

Thanks Emma and thank you Jenny for such a brilliant idea!

Daisie xxx

A Productive Day

After Tumble Tots and some lunch, Nathaniel and I managed to sew together three taggy blankets;


These should have been done last night really but I accidently fell asleep when putting Nathaniel to bed, it is becoming a very bad habit of mine at the minute.

Better late than never, I always say!

And I love the randomness of the ribbons on these ones. Eliabeth helped me cut them last night before she went to bed. I am very regimented and methodical when chopping up my ribbon stash and even though I gave her the ruler they are all different lengths! Think it maybe adds to their charm?!



I also knitted half a pair of bootees;

The other half may get knitted this evening but them again, maybe not......

We made a yummy lemon sponge for after tea;

Whilst all that was going on the sweet sticky thick tomato and chilli sauce was simmering away getting more delicious throughout the afternoon ready for the meatballs;

And then to make the day even better, when I collected the girls from school we hot footed it down to the sorting office to fetch this wonderful little boxy parcel;

I shall show you what was in it tomorrow!

Daisie xxx

Button Maker

Having seen all the lovely buttons that have been swapped in blogland of late (not sure how I missed that one?) inspired me to go grab some fimo and make my own. The fimo wasn't nearly as pricey as I had feared but cutters?! Blimey, found some I really liked and then had to decide if I liked them enough to remortgage my house! So no new miniature cutters for me (but I do have a birthday coming up, hint, hint...) so I had to improvise with some chocolate moulds I have in the kitchen drawer and some badly drawn card templates;



A daisy, well, what else! Love the little leaves, they are made using a marble finish fimo and the daisy and butterfly have a glitter content. I can see a set of these on a little girl's cardigan, leaves all the way up and a flower under the chin!

Then using my recently discovered, perfectly sized button cutter (my wedding ring) I made some more in the sparkly stuff and made a spotty pattern around the edge with a very sharp pencil;



And you must please note just how sunny it is out there in my garden today, I can hardly believe it, bloody cold though!! Doesn't seem to be scaring the daffies though, there are new yellow heads nodding at me every day.

Yesterday I attended an adult art class (oooh, that sounds rude), partly becasue I like to learn new things and partly to let Nathaniel have some more time in the creche and try and address some of his seperation issues. And it was free!!!! Yes FREE!!!!

It's a three week course and this week was silk painting;



It was amazing to do, I really enjoyed it. We were asked to draw a design, I copped out and went with a flower (again) and then we drew this image onto the silk with a rubberised paint, when that had dried we got going with lots of fabulous coloured inks. I seem to have created a strange dappled effect with the purple in my background, not sure I could do it again but am quite pleased. I am so thrilled with the overall finished piece that I have even forgiven myself for the huge gold splodge at the top of the flower. As first attempts go I am rather proud of myself and can't wait to see it framed up ready to go into our bedroom (when we eventually finish it)!!

Daisie xxx